The field of the present disclosure relates generally to monitoring turbine engines and more specifically, to methods and systems for detecting compressor surge in turbine engines.
In some turbine engines, a compressor operates at a higher pressure ratio to achieve a higher efficiency. During operation of some turbine engines, the compressor may stall and even surge. This may occur when the pressure ratio of the compressor exceeds some critical value at a given speed of the turbine engine, resulting in a rapid reduction of compressor pressure ratio and airflow delivered to a combustor. Compressor stall results when the airflow separates from one or more of the compressor blades, and compressor surge results when the pressure ratio through the compressor increases such that the airflow separates from the compressor blades in one or more rows of the compressor.
During compressor surge, the compressor performance falls due to the inability of the compressor to handle the increased pressure ratio. The surge may occur due to a variety of reasons, such as, for example, when the inlet airflow pressure or temperature becomes distorted during normal operation of the compressor. In addition, surge may occur due to compressor damage or a malfunction of the turbine engine control system.
Some known turbine engines use local sensors and a local controller to monitor the airflow and pressure rise through the compressor in order to detect surge events. However, the additional costs associated with local controllers and sensors for a fleet of turbine engines can be prohibitive. Furthermore, the cost of the sensor and the installation of these on a fleet of turbines make it prohibitively expensive to retrofit existing turbine engines that may not have surge detection systems. In addition, the time required to penetrate a significant portion of a fleet of turbine engines would be time consuming. Accordingly, it would be desirable to implement a remote surge detection system that uses existing sensors on the turbine engine to determine when surge events are occurring on a fleet of turbine engines. Advantages of such a system are enabling the monitoring of a fleet of turbine engines to be implemented with reduced cost, and enabling rapid changes to the surge detection algorithm if necessary to increase accuracy.